Affordable Housing Statistics

What is "Affordable Housing"?

The standard meaning of "affordable housing" is housing that is affordable to households with low incomes, meaning that these households pay no more than 30% of their income for rent/mortgage and utilities.
"Low income" is defined based on the area median income (or "AMI") of the city or county. Typically, households are considered "low-income" if they earn no more than 80% of AMI. Households earning under 50% of AMI are very low-income, and those earning under 30% of AMI are extremely low-income.
In Orange County, the AMI for 2020 is $90,900
- 80% of AMI = $50,900 for one person and $72,700 for a family of four
- 50% of AMI = $31,850 for one person and $45,450 for a family of four
- 30% of AMI = $19,100 for one person and $27,250 for a family of four

Fair market rent (or "FMR") of a two-bedroom apartment (2019)
- North Carolina: $737
- Orange County: $902
Income needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment at FMR (2019)
- North Carolina: $35,256 ($16.95 per hour)
- Orange County: $42,200 ($20.29 per hour)
Mean wage earned by renters
- North Carolina: $15.29 per hour
- Orange County: $14.12 per hour
In 2019, an Orange County renter earning the mean wage ($14.12) would need to work 112 hours per week to afford the fair market rent for a standard two-bedroom apartment ($902).
Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition (https://reports.nlihc.org/oor/north-carolina)